Before I left for the grocery store last night, I thumbed through my envelope system of budgeting. Utilities, Gas Money, Car Insurance……….. Ah! There it is! GROCERIES!
I removed the last $23 with yet a week to go before payday and thought, “Yikes! I’m going to have to RE-THINK my envelope amounts, and perhaps drop a few more bucks in here each month!”
After frugally choosing this week’s groceries in order to not go over that $23 in my wallet, I chose very carefully, even I dare say – Wisely!
At the register, I chatted with the cashier who has been there since my boys were 3 and 5 years old. She shared with me that her brother just passed away, and then teared up as she said, “Rita, I wish I’d have spent more time with him. But I can’t now.”
Upon returning home, I put the 75 cents of change back into the GROCERIES envelope, and thought about TIME.
What if we had TIME envelopes? What if, at the start of each month, God TOLD us how many days we would have this month, and then expected us to divvy them up into envelopes with the names of those we love on them? (Along with work, and housework, and school work, and family, and friends on each envelope……….)
How would you budget your time? Assuming that he gave you 30 days in August of 2015, would you really be so full of pride that you continue to WAIT for an invitation to your loved one’s home? Or would you just call and say, “I miss you, and I’m coming over to see your pretty face!”
Would you say to someone you love, “I know, I know, it’s just that I work 90 hours a week, and I’m so tired! But ONE OF THESE DAYS, I SWARE! We are going to get together! I promise!” Or would you just drop everything to meet half way and go have that sandwich, coffee, and a good laugh?
Would you enjoy someone’s company, and love them for WHO they are? Or would you take every opportunity while you are with them to ridicule and put them down, and then laugh at them once they walk out the door? (Don’t you think you’d regret that?)
What if you had to BALANCE a “time book” the same as you must balance your “check book?”
You see, when your checkbook reaches a ZERO balance, you may always have a credit card in your wallet. But you cannot do that with TIME. The balance IS what it IS. And it’s ALL YOU HAVE, and there is no borrowing more time, or getting time on credit. I don’t have the luxury of knowing my balance of time left here on this earth, dropping some more time into my “life account,” and re-budgeting for next month, like I do with my GROCERIES envelope. (And neither do YOU!) Only God knows my balance (and yours!).
Spend your time wisely. You don’t know your balance – whether it’s a year, a month, or even an hour. You cannot deposit, and you cannot borrow. When it runs out, it runs out. It’s gone. That’s it.
August 2015 will be here in a few days! (Or……. Will it?)
Who will YOU call today?
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:10
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